Each Thursday members can post and respond to questions to help others enter or advance into careers that are HENRY income brackets. This includes salary negotiation, jobs, companies, positions, promotions, etc. All individual threads on this topic will be considered a violation of Rule #6 and will be removed.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY and approximate income levels. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice for other members to enter income brackets that qualify as High Earning. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like career advice on, we advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3).

Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Brief professional background
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

I am an otherwise healthy 40 year old who has been recently asked to start medication for hypertension. A lot going on in my mind, including whether to try to address the problem through exercise/diet and move to medication if that doesn’t work, my mortality, etc.

I am fairly ambitious, so I’m unsure of what this means for my career. I figured I’ll check with this group to see how others navigate a balance between upward mobility and stress related health problems since high income jobs generally come with some level of stress.

Thank you.

EDIT: This community is so helpful. I’m off for a meeting, but I will take time to read each comment in a few hours. Thank you all.

EDIT 2: I came for career advice and ended up with life advice. The news was heavy for me, and I had to take time off to grieve my youth, so pardon the silence. So grateful for such a helpful community. I knew I had a predisposition for hypertension, but at 5’ 7”, 150 lbs and fairly active, I thought I had a couple decades before nature caught up with me.

I’ll be going on meditation and will work on building healthy habits. I think the primary decision factor is the fact that I could get off meds if conditions improve.

Thanks for being here, guys.

Through my FIL, I know three brothers who are much older than me (30+yrs) with whom I’ve done business in real estate transactions. Together they own a business in a different industry that they’re looking to sell. It generates around 1M/yr GROSS PROFIT (edit) and they’re exploring the idea of selling to me for somewhere in the 3.5-4M range. I could very easily fund 1-1.5M of this but could scrape together 2-2.5. These guys are pretty rich so the 300k/yr doesn’t really affect their lives and they just want to enjoy what life they have left it seems.

What are some avenues I could take to fund the rest? What metrics, contingencies, etc should I be discussing? Info I should be gathering? Should I discuss seller financing? This is a new form of investment for me. As far as running day to day, my wife and her father have interest. It’s possible her dad will be willing to contribute funds to purchase but I’d guess 500-750k. Particularly in good faith and because of how attractive the business seems

I’m in a stage of life where I’m starting to question my current career path and have found myself wanting a coach, mentor, or other resource to talk through potential options and pros/cons.

How have you navigated this issue when you were contemplating a big career change?

I have a lot of great friends and peers in my network, but they’re all in different fields and haven’t been able to provide the guidance I’m looking for.

In case context is helpful, I’ve worked in risk consulting, specifically regulatory compliance for healthcare and life sciences, for about 8 years and find the work incredibly boring to the point of being depressing. However, I’m compensated well (200k before bonus) and have great WLB/flexibility.

I just can’t imagine continuing to do this every day until I retire without going absolutely insane. I’m having difficulty figuring out what role/industry I’d like more and wish I had someone to talk through some of these issues with.

Any advice on exploring new roles, industries, and career paths in your mid 30s? Did you do it? Was it worth it? Who did you lean on to help you figure it all out?

Hello my fellow HENRYS.

Been thinking of buying a biz but just doing some preliminary research on process etc.

Stats:

Job: Commercial Banker 30M HHI (Single): 215k NW: 320k (half of which is brokerage). MCOL: Chicago

Recently was focused on purchasing a Multi family but have since pivoted my thoughts on purchasing a Biz. Maybe $1M in rev or somewhere around there. Possibly with a partner. Would try to find an operator (best case scenario).

My reason is I don’t have a wife or kids at this stage and I don’t think I’d like to pivot into a harder gig for higher pay (PE, etc). Great W/L balance and really blessed. Trying to optimize my life for balance but put my funds to work while simultaneously scratching the entrepreneurial itch while maintaining my day job and creating another source of income.

Anyone here purchase a biz before? How did it go? At what point in your career did you purchase? Advice? Type of biz? Just looking for some general info. I like collecting the ole paycheck but want to expand my risk appetite a bit. At the least I’ll continue to climb the corporate ladder and padding the balances, at best I can become my own boss eventually with portcos.

Each Tuesday members can post and respond to questions on housing and the housing market for individuals in HENRY income brackets. This includes selling, buying, negotiation, loans, lending, relocation, schools, etc.

All individual threads on this topic will be considered a violation of Rule #6 and will be removed.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY and approximate income levels. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice for other members to enter income brackets that qualify as High Earning. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like advice on, we advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, referrals, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3).

Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Brief professional background
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

We are very recently HHI $270k or so. Careers are going well and overall stable after a roller coaster in late 20s and early 30s.

At what point does one start to let their guard down a little?

Mostly interested in hearing from folks with some internal motivation for working OT - equity grant with higher likelihood of an exit, learning a lot and enjoying the problem space, etc - but if you are compensated for OT that's a great reason as well.

About a year ago I joined a small company where the folks are higher caliber than I'm used to. There's a lot of opportunity and I'd like to take advantage of it. But I'm simply not good enough to get all this work done to a high degree of quality in ~32/33 hours per week. I say 32.5hrs to account for breaks and meetings.

I think this work would be rewarding, intrinsically and possibly financially. I wouldn't be expecting a bonus or anything but I do feel I could negotiate a solid raise and refresh If I were a top performer. I think it would also pay off in terms of influence. I'm a solid performer now, but I end each week feeling like I just need a little more time to become a department/company leader.

I would still have time for fitness, my relationship, and my dog. I also see friends and play in 2 small time sports leagues. Most of the OT would come out of my TV/social media time. Which is a very low cost if not a net gain.

But I also understand that I might be defaulting to work when I could be exploring other things to do with my time.

Just wanted to canvas others that might be in my situation. Thanks.

Apologies as this may be the wrong flair.

My partner and I are early 30s HHI 260k renting in a VHCOL area. Parents are gently hinting that moving back home ~5 hrs H/MCOL would be appreciated. Mostly due to health issues and recent concern for cancer. They are financially savvy and have more than enough for a comfortable retirement.

We had not been planning to stay where we are and in fact had planned to move closer in the next 5-10 years. We would likely look to purchase a home and this would only accelerate our timeline.

Careers are fairly depending on our current location and we would likely both need to find new jobs.

This is just one set of parents too, we may encounter a similar conversation with my in laws as they age as well.

We’re prioritizing ourselves first, but my greatest fear is waiting too long and having something catastrophic happen before spending more time with them.

Not sure if any others have been in this situation and how they navigated it. Appreciate any thoughts.

Each Saturday members can post and respond to questions to help others with their HENRY related questions. This would be the appropriate place to get specific, personal advice with mortgages, investments, private schools, retirement, budgeting, etc. related to your specific scenario.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice and perspective for other members who qualify as HENRY. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like advice on. We also advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3). Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

Might be more for those on the tail end of NRY, but what has your experience been with pledged asset mortgages?

To my understanding, if you have equivalent or greater asset value in securities, you can pledge this money to the bank in lieu of paying cash for a down payment. This helps prevent taxes when selling stock, and allows for the assets to continue appreciation. The pledge can be called like a margin call, where you would have to pledge additional securities if the asset value falls below a certain threshold.

The bank has title over the asset but ultimate ownership resides with the borrower. In exchange for this method of financing, banks will often decrease the mortgage interest rate.

So, if you’ve done a pledged asset mortgage, what has your experience been? What did you pledge and how did it affect your loan?

Each Thursday members can post and respond to questions to help others enter or advance into careers that are HENRY income brackets. This includes salary negotiation, jobs, companies, positions, promotions, etc. All individual threads on this topic will be considered a violation of Rule #6 and will be removed.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY and approximate income levels. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice for other members to enter income brackets that qualify as High Earning. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like career advice on, we advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3).

Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Brief professional background
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

Can folks help me understand a SEP IRA? I have a regular W2 job where I’m contributing to retirement with employer match via 401k. For simplicity, let’s say I contribute $15k and my employer contributes $15k. Obviously this is under the $23k limit of employee max. My 401k has no backdoor option. The second part of this is I have a side business (LLC) that brings in comparable income to my W2. I just started a SEP IRA for myself under the LLC. If I understand things right, it would be best for me to contribute anything else I can to the SEP up to a total of $69k limit between my 401k and the SEP because this would 1. Lower my income of the LLC since this would be an expense, and 2. Can serve as my alternative vehicle to contribute more ($39k) to a retirement vehicle since my 401k doesn’t have a backdoor option. Am I correct in this?

Obviously come tax time I will check with my accountant but hoping for folks to weigh in on if I’m thinking about the SEP benefits correctly.

Hi, ran a few numbers on 529 calc for about 12 years out and it looks like a single year of tuition + room and board could be about $150k a year. Is this reasonable to assume is accurate sticker cost or will scholarships and discounts bring the cost down? Do any elder HENRYs remember running projections for their kids? Was 6% tuition growth accurate?

Hello,

I'm a 28M with relatively high risk tolerance. I have approximately $500K and made some of it playing the market. A few months ago I went wild and considered it the end of a bull-run, liquidating all my assets into cash (non-taxable event), waiting for a huge black swan crash. The market recovered clearly and ran since then.

I see how clear of a mistake this was, and was simply too confident.

How do I belly back and re-enter higher, knowing I missed gains and will be buying higher? Do I lump sum back in, DCA over a year, but on low days? Now I feel "forced" to wait for this inevitable crash.. which is a losing strategy.

I am now finally at the point where my financial future is taken care of, and I am now planning early retirement (depending on how expensive my kids are). I plan to have a hefty withdrawal rate, at around $150k per year and a paid off house.

My issue is, what hobbies am I going to do to keep me busy? I am in my 30s now, and really only enjoy working out and socializing with friends.

What are some hobbies that you have gotten into that you can take into retirement?

Each Tuesday members can post and respond to questions on housing and the housing market for individuals in HENRY income brackets. This includes selling, buying, negotiation, loans, lending, relocation, schools, etc.

All individual threads on this topic will be considered a violation of Rule #6 and will be removed.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY and approximate income levels. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice for other members to enter income brackets that qualify as High Earning. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like advice on, we advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, referrals, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3).

Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Brief professional background
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

While we all like to be invested, many of us also want to be prepared for unforeseen situations. How much cash do you keep accessible to you for times when credit, or going to the bank, might not be an option l?

https://i.imgur.com/AbMNAWo.jpeg. Last jump was me removing and re-adding 401K account.

No one else to tell. Took 14 years to reach $1M. Perfect conditions with a strong market took me to $2M in <4 years. Amazing how gains start to compound.

I recently had a conversation that really opened my eyes to the challenges many older professionals face… those specifically who have always lived at their means and/or never became financially literate.

Two weeks ago, I met a woman at a work conference who shared her story with me. She’s a senior executive, and definitely one of the top earners at the company. She told me about the overwhelming situation in her life—her husband, son, father, and father-in-law are all in the hospital or hospice care. To make matters worse, she’s had to step back from her work due to the emotional and mental toll her personal life and work responsibilities have taken on her.

As we spoke, she mentioned that she hopes to retire next year, but she’s uncertain if she can afford to. She’s now looking into talking to a financial advisor to see if retirement is even a possibility for her. I personally was confused at how she was 64 and unsure of her financial status. I asked a few more gentle questions about her finances, given that she’s definitely a high earner. She mentioned she and her husband didn’t start saving money until she was well into her 40s/early 50s, all 4 kids went to private school and they paid out of pocket for their college.

It’s heartbreaking to see someone in such a difficult situation, not only dealing with personal hardships but also the uncertainty of whether they can afford to step away from work with so many people depending on them. This encounter was a powerful reminder of how crucial it is to become financially literate and have a solid financial plan in place, especially as we approach retirement age.

Has anyone else experienced or seen something similar? Would love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might give someone in this situation

Each Saturday members can post and respond to questions to help others with their HENRY related questions. This would be the appropriate place to get specific, personal advice with mortgages, investments, private schools, retirement, budgeting, etc. related to your specific scenario.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice and perspective for other members who qualify as HENRY. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like advice on. We also advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3). Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

As the title says, do you set an 'intention' for your general pot of money? It's pretty common to have dedicated savings for emergency funds and children's college funds, and of course everyone has their tax-advantaged accounts for retirement savings. Beyond that, do you have savings accounts and a general brokerage that's just...money that you have? Do you split it up into multiple accounts / brokerages with dedicated purposes?

Context: My husband (33M) and I (33F) are approaching a net worth where we would start to have options like buying a vacation home or one of us leaving our jobs. I'm struggling to understand how we know when those become real options and not just 'maybe one day' options. Like for a vacation home, obviously we wouldn't want to spend all of our money on a second home, so say we aim to spend <10% of our net worth on it. But then what is the other 90% for? Is it just to have to counterbalance the risk of our real estate? Is it assumed to be retirement savings?

I've always used YNAB and I'm struggling with the 'give every dollar a job' guideline and what that means for us now

I am a big believer in WLB (Work Life Balance). I don't do any work-work (employer work, my full-time 9-5) at night or on the weekends.

But I am at a stage in my late career where I get offers for consulting work which is easy money. If you take a dogmatic view that you should not do any work on the weekends, I feel like I am leaving easy money on the table. I am talking about 3 Saturdays of work; consisting of 4 hours each day netting $20k in consulting. Which is about 12 hours of work for $20k. And if I do this a few months in a year, that is an easy 60-80K in extra money. Basically, "pizza/beer money" or money found underneath the couch cushion. I did this quite a bit few years ago but slowed down because I've been inundated with the idea that extra work is fundamentally wrong and I should be spending it with my family. I also slowed down because my day job's income progression matches parity to what I was doing just 4 years ago (day job + side hustle). But every so often, I see easy, extra money and I can't resist.

Do I need that extra money? Answer is no. We make enough to comfortably live on. But an extra $20k here and there, I was able to buy a $15k watch without hesitation and recently bought a nice new car for my high school son. I could do that because it is "beer/pizza money" and not directly coming out of family budget/finances. My wife doesn't ask me what I spend my trivial money on. But one thing that came to mind. 1-2 consulting gigs may mean the difference where my kid lives w/ 3 room-mates in college or I splurge on him to rent his own apartment. That is why I think of it as pizza money. We can do with out but those extra funds are like icing on a cake for the extra luxuries in life. And I think it makes a profound difference versus what my dad did with over-time. He'd work OT so he could buy his kid a telescope for Christmas. My form of "OT" means I can afford to let my kid live in a nicer apartment by himself for a year. But I wonder if I should stop. My kid already has college funded for him.

I originally just wanted to take some of that work and farm it out, be a middle man. But the people I hire tend to be mediocre so I end up doing the work myself.

In terms of WLB, I feel like I got nothing else to do on the weekends. Kids are old enough, teenagers, they spend time with their friends. The wife does gardening and brunches with her mother. Or she goes shopping with friends/family. I spend it washing/waxing/detailing all the cars in the household.

Yet, still, I feel like I am cheating in life if you go by what redditors think --- separate all work from leisure and to close the laptop at 5pm Fridays. Even now, I think I am half-ass 'ing it. 12 hours of work SoW, I stretch it out a few more weeks. Some weekends, I do 1/2 hour or 1 hours because I feel like I shouldn't be working. But all that goes away when I finished and always think, I should just done it over 2 weekends to get it done with. So I procrastinate. I never procrastinate my 9-5 job.

So I guess what I am asking is at what point do you stop doing side-hustles, even if the money is so easy. Do you follow that dogmatic view of hard-stop 5pm Friday. Free up your weekend and just watch tv on the couch? If the money was so-so like $2-4k, I wouldn't even entertain it but when you get $15-30k consulting projects, I go through these thoughts of hesitation of is it worth it?

Every time I see the passing of someone younger, I get a little scared that if anything happened to me, my wife would have no idea what is going on with our finances. I handle our investments, taxes, bills, etc.

What have others done to prepare for this? The biggest issue I run into is the constant changing of passwords, I can't just have a simple notebook of account logins. Not to mention the ability to completely take over my financial life if anyone ever got their hands on it.

Is just a listing of providers and account numbers enough? Leave her to figure out the rest?

Update: Thank you all for your responses. I should have given more context. We are both W-2 professionals with similar earnings. We have our wills, advanced directives, etc., and our beneficiaries are set-up properly on all accounts. 90% of our finances are on auto-pilot with me keeping tabs on them.

I've already gotten the passwords into 1password and organized them. Next I think it's time to look into getting a trust.

Each Thursday members can post and respond to questions to help others enter or advance into careers that are HENRY income brackets. This includes salary negotiation, jobs, companies, positions, promotions, etc. All individual threads on this topic will be considered a violation of Rule #6 and will be removed.

Before posting, familiarize yourself with the definition of HENRY and approximate income levels. The goal of this weekly thread is to provide advice for other members to enter income brackets that qualify as High Earning. (Article: "What are HENRYs? High Earners Not Rich Yet")

When posting for advice, be as specific as possible as to what you would like career advice on, we advise using the structure below and also recommend that you demonstrate a willingness to help yourself by searching the sub and reading through the comments to glean insights from others.

When responding with advice, no flexing. This is an opportunity to support others with advice based on your personal experience. It would be helpful to provide brief context on what positions you to offer the advice (Rule #1 - Be good natured, No trolling) and do not provide ads, affiliate links, or other content without permission from the mod team (Rule #3).

Referring members to other, more appropriate subreddits is acceptable, linking to specific pages, posts, etc. that are passthroughs for affiliate links is not.

Lastly, this is a non-inclusive reminder for anyone participating in this thread or on this sub. Lawyers are not your lawyers, Accountants are not your accountants, Doctors are not your doctors, etc. etc. etc.

Asking for advice - suggested post structure:

• Age/Age range (in 5 year intervals, e.g., 30-34, 35-39):
• Location (e.g., Country, State, Approximate cost of living (Guidance here)
• Total Household Income (HHI); # of people in the household; breakdown of the Total HHI (e.g., salary, equity, bonus, investments) (+/- $30,000)
• Expenses
• Net Worth (+/- $50,000)
• Brief professional background
• Goals/Question/What would you like advice on?

Money is always on my mind and the goal is to always earn more. However it just seems that with our kids getting older, time is a luxury. Whether it be making time for the gym, household projects/maintenance/chores, social obligations, there isn’t enough time or energy leftover to think of ways to earn extra income. Maybe it’s also that I’m getting older and my capacity to think about work ends when I leave the office. Or I’m just unwilling to give up time from other hobbies to focus on extra work. Lately I’ve come to the realization that this might be the highest earning potential that my wife and I will achieve. Hence the roadblock.

My wife on the other hand is always talking about side hustles, rental property, etc while my mentality is picking up more shifts, maxing contributions to retirement accts, and spending less. My wife and I are both probably earning in the top percentile of our respective fields. I however have the potential to make more if I open up a practice but that has never interested me.

Has anyone else felt this way or have any advice to give?

ETA: thanks for the replies, guys. Got some hard thinking to do.

39, single woman. VHCOL area. Most men are not super ambitious here in Hawaii. I’m a high earner (and spender - working on that and increasing my income) but would be way better off splitting expenses and want a partner with similar goals. Enjoy life but have some thing to build toward… Halp! I’m good looking… mostly in shape.. good career & down to earth. Never have an issue with getting dates. Where do I look?!

I’m a superintendent making $130k a year and overall comp (housing, benefits, gas, car, etc) is around $200-215k. I want to leave the feild and move up but stuck on where to go. Anyone make the switch? I’d like to be making a minimum of 300k in the next 2.

Part of the reason I want out is I don’t enjoy this work. Last year my base was $180k, and around 250-275 all in. Not including bonus. Taking a pay cut this year for location has not been what I expected.

Thanks.

Spouse and I are in the middle of deciding on timing for kids. We do very well. But of course want to do better. In your experience did you make more after having children or did you push yourselves to make more prior to children? Thanks!